The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Stock Position Lifted by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 520,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,251 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $35,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Charles Schwab by 26.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 29,775,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,634,700,000 after acquiring an additional 6,195,934 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Charles Schwab by 1.5% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,050,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,413,244,000 after acquiring an additional 391,238 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,255,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,853,005,000 after buying an additional 8,563,389 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth $1,325,555,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,560,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $854,295,000 after buying an additional 502,304 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Charles Schwab news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total value of $257,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,425,533.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 8,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.76, for a total transaction of $518,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,917,608.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total transaction of $257,960.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,425,533.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 216,584 shares of company stock worth $14,200,769 in the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of Charles Schwab stock opened at $73.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.75. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12-month low of $45.65 and a 12-month high of $73.65.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.49 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 26.14% and a return on equity of 19.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on SCHW shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.47.

Charles Schwab Profile

The Charles Schwab Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Investor Services and Advisor Services.